Will Over the Ages
by ally4054
Summary: Times when Halt or Will see each other over the year before he becomes his apprentice, and times with each other when he is an apprentice! Kinda Fluffy.
1. Chapter 1 Will at Age Four

Ok so this is my story about how Halt or Will see each other throughout Will's years growing up at the Redmount Ward. Most of this will be based on Halt seeing Will. So anyway, this is my first chapter, I think there will be about 4 or 5 different ones. So Read and Relax, I had fun with this so please enjoy.

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Halt stood silently in the shadows of the dinning hall. The candle lit lights glowed brightly above the table as three young kids zoomed around the table, and although they glanced his way every now and then they never knew he was there, thanks to his cloak that camouflaged him into the background. He stood in the corner of the hall; he had absently gone to check on the ward children, he had stalked in while they had been finishing dinner.

Checking on the children of the Ward had become a habit of his, he knew why, but would never really admit it. It was because of one child in particular, he found it such a bother, but whenever he tried to cast it from his mind, it would always find its way back to his thoughts. So he often made his way out to the castle when he found free time, coming to see the children, but not letting them see him.

He just barely let a smile touch his face as he watched one young child in particular as he tripped and fall to the floor, only to spring back to his feet.

"Are you alright Will?" A young girl with already long blonde hair asked.

"Of course I am!" He replied, his brown always curly hair bounced as he rushed after her, his big brown eyes wide with happiness.

Will, the one child he had left of the doorstep of the Barons' castle four years ago. He knew it was best, for both, Will and himself, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for the young boy, no one knew who his parents were, except for him, he hadn't said any specifics for who his parents had been, because he hadn't really known the people.

_At least he isn't alone; _Halt thought to himself, there had been two other orphans that had come to the Ward in the past four years.

There was George, a thin little boy who had just came this year, and his parents had died in a fire. He was shy, Halt had noticed, it had taken him a couple days to even approach Will.

Then there was the blonde, already tall, girl that he had learned was named Alyss. She had come the same year as Will, taken care of at the Ward sense she was a baby as well. Except there was one difference, people knew who her parents were and have the ability to tell her about them.

Of course Will couldn't be told about his parents, no one knew who they were, and again he felt the erg to go and tell Baron Arald about Will's parents, but he knew he couldn't. The fact that the Baron could have suddenly come up with that information after four years was all but impossible, and he couldn't tell anyone that it had come from a mysterious ranger. That would never help people get along with Will.

_Someday I can tell him, _Halt thought_, but I don't know when that will ever be. I just know that's not anytime soon._

Halt stood and watched the kids run around the room a while longer until they finally all yawned and ran out of the room_._ Halt walked over to the door, only to see young Will standing in the doorway.  
He looked into the eyes of the young boy, they were full of curiosity and wonder, but he didn't ask the man anything. It wasn't unusual to see someone that he didn't know in the castle, but he stared at the man a second long, there was something about him.

He looked down at his feet for a second; Halt could tell he made him nervous. Halt didn't move, and when Will looked back up from the floor, he looked side to side, like he was trying to find where he went. Of course Halt was still standing there, but his cloak saved him from saying anything to the boy.

Will looked around for a few seconds, then giving up retreated back down the hall with a call from Alyss.

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Oh, yeah I knew that Alyss came the same year as Will but there was never any specifics of when his other friends came. So I put George in because I wanted 3 kids. So anyway I hope to be posting the next one soon! Hope to have you read the next one then!


	2. Chapter 2 Will at Age Seven

**Ok so here is the next chapter, Will is now seven! If you have any ideas please tell me! I would love to include them in my story! **

**Read and Relax!**

**Oh yeah, again, I didnt know when anyone came to the Ward besides Will and Alyss, so I figured they all would have came at a younger age, not like 12 or 13 so I thought I would include everyone in this chapter... Sorry if I'm wrong, but this is MY fanfic...So i guess it doesnt matter.**

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"Now you all have to be very careful, don't wander very far, and if you see any strangers don't talk to them."

Will nodded distractedly, Ivy, a care taker at the ward and apprentice to the healer was busy gathering herbs in the forest and had been asked to bring the ward children with her so they could play in the forest. Ivy was nice; she looked nice as well, not at all like she was eighteen. She had golden curly locks of hair, and sparkling blue eyes, always full of laughter, with a still child looking face.

He looked around himself; the forest was beautiful tall leafy trees, and spiky pines everywhere. The sky was a rich blue color, Will knew, but he could only see the sky through the small gaps in the intertwining tree tops.

He looked at his ward mates, Alyss and Jenny, the two girls listened politely and attentively even though Will was sure they wished Ivy would stop talking. George looked at her and listened as well, even though Will could see his gaze shifting away from her. Then there was Horace.

Horace was the newest ward child even if he had come a few years back. He had seemed nice at first, but then Will had learned of his superior attitude and then found him quite annoying. He stood there, rolling his eyes at the end of almost every sentence and huffing every so often.

"OK we get it, we're not babies. We're seven!" Horace yelled as Ivy paused slightly.

"Horace! That wasn't very nice!" Alyss yelled back. Jenny nodded in agreement even though she was trying to hide a smile.

Will looked over at Ivy, expecting her to be mad; after all she was just worried about them. Though she was smiling, even laughing slightly as she brushed a piece of her golden curly hair out of her face, "Maybe so, but you're still children."

Horace frowned deeply and crossed his arms; he often did that when he was mad.

"Alright, alright," Ivy responded, "just stay close so when I call you can hear me."

She smiled as she strolled away, Will wondered where she was going, but really he didn't want to know to bad. He wanted to do other things.

He turned around, he planned to find a tall tree, taller then the one in the castle grounds, and climb to the top. He and George already agreed to go with each other, George had brought a book to read, and really, just wanted to find a nice shady place to go and read. Over the years George had found a love of reading, and the baron supplied him with an endless amount of different books for him to read.

He heard Alyss and Jenny discussing where they would find flowers, seeing as they were picking flowers for the Baron. Horace didn't say anything, but Will didn't really care too much.

"I think there is a creek over this way," Will spoke pointing in the direction he thought it was in, "There will probably flowers over that way, and a tree or two I can try and climb."

Everyone nodded and they headed over that way.

**

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**

Halt watched the five children from the depths of the shadows as they headed toward where young Will had pointed.

_Great, _Halt thought_, they're headed toward my cabin!_

Baron Arald had told Halt about the children's soon to be adventure in the forest and he had asked Halt to make sure they didn't get into trouble. Of course Halt had agreed, mostly because of Will, he had to admit.

The boy had grown, not actually in height; he was reality quite short, but in other things, personality and smarts. Halt had to admit, from what he had seen Will was turning out to be quite bright.

_He would make a good ranger…No, no I cant think about that now, the boy is only seven, he'll probably grow later, and get out of the habits of his sneaking around and climbing._

At that even Halt had to smile, he had seen Will sneaking around the castle at the dead of night many times, he wasn't quite sure why, but Will seemed to be practicing sneaking about.

He shook his head, trashing his smile, and stalked off after the children.

Halt found himself relax as Will veered everyone of the path to his cabin. They soon reached a small creek; bundles of colorful flowers dotted the edge of the water. The two girls squeaked slightly and raced to the flowers and looked them over carefully.

Halt heard the taller girl, Alyss, call a thank you. Will smiled as he looked up at the trees, mumbling something about them being too small he headed off to the North, asking the rest of the kids if they would wait for him when Ivy called.

They nodded, and he set off, Halt looked at the four remaining kids, the girls were picking flowers, the smaller of the two boys left, George, was propped against a tree reading. Then the taller, newer boy to the Ward, Horace was walking around the trees with a stick, obviously pretending it was a sword.

Deciding they would be fine, he set off in the direction Will had left. A little boy going off into the woods alone, well that just spelled trouble!

He followed Will, _his foot prints are smudged a bit, he must have been running_, Halt decided. Suddenly they stopped in front of a tall pine tree, with plenty of thick branches and a strong trunk. Over the times Halt had watched Will, he knew the boy had found a natural talent in climbing.

Looking up, he saw the color of Will dark brown boots as he jumped from branch to branch. Higher up, Halt saw that the tree looked like it was brushing the clouds, and he knew Will wanted this to be a challenge.

Back at the sight of Will, who was up only a couple more feet, he reasoned that he should stay and make sure he didn't fall.

Halt picked out a rock only a little ways off, in the shadow of a tall leafy tree and sat down. Some minutes later he heard a crunch of leaves and stood up to move, expecting it to be Will, but looking over toward the direction he saw a man. It worried Halt, the man held a sword tightly in his hands, his hair was mattered and greasy, actually all of him was greasy. His clothes were battered and ripped, and he had the hilt of a danger sticking out of his boot.

_Must be a thief of some kind,_ Halt thought bitterly,_ but I cant shoot him, it might startle Will and he could fall, maybe he'll just pass by…_

That hope was shattered as the branches and rustled on the tall pine Will was in, he was coming back down the tree. The man paused and looked around, and when he saw the branches move, he moved into a position so he could get whoever was in the tree.

Halt drew a breath, he would have to shoot the man; he couldn't let Will get hurt but he never did. As Will stepped down to another branch it suddenly cracked, breaking underneath his weight. He grabbed the branch above him and regaining his balance on a near by branch, but the other branch tumbled to the ground.

It soared down from the height it was at, landing squarely on the thief's head, knocking him unconscious. Halt put down his longbow and rushed over to the unconscious body, dragging him over behind a tree.

Just in time too, because as soon as he was behind the tree, Will landed lightly on his feet, he quickly located the large branch, and dragged in off the path that whined its way through the trees. He then set off running toward where he had left his friends, hearing a call from Ivy.

As the boy disappeared into the trees, Halt let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He had never been this worried for someone or anything in his life, he knew, even though he had never actually met him, Will was something special.

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**haha. Yep, that one was pretty fun to write! It amused me! It wasnt as fluffy as the first chapter, that one will probably be the most fluff full one. At least thats what I think... Anyway review if you want, or don't, your choice! :)**


	3. Chapter 3 Will at Age Nine

**SO VERY SORRY THAT IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET THIS CHAPTER UP! BUT FINALLY!**

**Life is just so busy! I always seem to have something going on when I want to keep writing. Then I got this major writer's block for this chapter, which I don't know what that was about because I usually don't get it. I guess I jinxed myself because I told my friend that...haha. Well Anyway without further babbling from me, here is my next chapter! Hope you like it!**

**Read and Relax!**

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Will followed Jenny as she led the way down the lush grassy path to the market. The early morning sun settled warmly on his back, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the birds chirped and spun through the air happily. There was a slight breeze which made the heat bearable, and brought the scent of the freshly made foods that were sold that day.

It was the weekly market and Will was glad for a break from the stony walls of the castle. The caretakers at the Ward had permitted the nine year old Ward children to go down to the market.

All except Alyss who was in bed with a nasty cold, they had all decided they would get something for her; after all they all relished the day of the week when they were allowed to freely run around in town, and she was greatly disappointed when she couldn't go, though she tried not to show it.

Will heard coins jingle in everyone's pockets, as they quickly made their way down to town, and he smiled to himself.

Suddenly he got shoved slightly from behind and his arms flailed as he tried to keep his balance, and as he did he realized the Horace had knocked him as he ran past to take the lead. He looked behind him to George, who simply shrugged, and so, Will let out a long sigh of frustration.

Horace had always been annoying and pushy, ever sense he came to the Ward, but as the years past Will had assumed he would get better, but he didn't. If anything he had gotten considerably worse, more demanding and pushy. A bully, really, as he often liked to tease and taunt Will.

He shook his head; he didn't need to worry about that now.

A wave of people hit him as he entered the market grounds; he said his goodbyes to his friends and went off in his own direction. The caretakers told them always to stay together, but none of the children ever listened to them about that particular rule.

He looked around, trying to identify a stand that he might find something for Alyss in, not only was she disappointed that she couldn't come today, her birthday was coming up and Will wanted to find something for his long time friend.

He suddenly noticed a necklace in the stand across the street. It was brilliant, he thought, even the beautiful piece would catch someone like Horace's eye.

It was a turquoise gem but other colors flowed their way through it. There were streams of dark blue, a very light blue and then there was dark green color too. The gem was smooth and shiny, next to the amazing stone were two smaller gems that were clear, but even from where he stood Will could see that a rainbow ran through them, and he couldn't help but stare at them in amazement.

The backs were rapped in a shiny substance, it looked like silver but he doubted it was. They were held on a dark blue ribbon, but the two clear gems had the rings that held them on poked through the ribbon, while the bigger turquoise jewel dangled there freely.

He quickly maneuvered his way through the ground, dodging and weaving through the mass of people until he stood in front of the small jewelry stand.

He inspected the necklace a little closer, he decided Alyss would love it, and hoped that the price wasn't too high.

"Excuse me," He started to say, but then as he looked up he realized that no one was standing at the stand. Deciding he would wait a little bit and see if someone came back he inspected the two clear stones. The inside of them were angling every which way, and he realized that the rainbow was there because of the way the sunlight ran through it.

"May I help you," a high pitch voice sounded in his ear and Will jumped slightly as he looked up to see an older lady standing behind the counter.

She was short and plump, her face was wrinkled and Will noticed that so were her hands. She had black hair pulled into a messy bun on her head; it was streaked with more than one strand of gray.

"Oh, um, yes," Will said meekly, "How much is this necklace?" He asked as he held the object in his hands.

"What a good eye you have dear, this necklace is actually quite cheap, four gold pieces."

Will looked up slightly when she said the price; it most certainly was not cheap. He could afford it, but just barely, he didn't think that he would have much money left after that, so he decided to wager for the price, Macy, a caretaker, had said never try to buy something like jewelry without trying to bargain for it.

"I don't think I can afford that, what about two gold?" he said in a sad tone.

The lady seemed to realize what he was trying to do, "Three gold."

"Two gold pieces and a silver," he said quickly and more confident.

"Two gold and two silver pieces," she said firmly.

Will thought a moment, it still was more than he hoped it would be but it would have to do, "Alright, deal."

**

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**

Halt had watched as the four Ward children had made there way down to the Market grounds. He hadn't been watching over them he had just happened to notice them, he was roaming around the busy town.

The weekly Market usually had an odd thief here and there and he found that if he was there he could catch them, or they wouldn't even risk doing it at all if they saw him.

He walked and watched from the shadows as people passed him by, he scanned the grounds for any unusual actions. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Will, he let a small smile show as he barely heard what he was saying, the young boy was trying to bargain with a stall owner.

Then somewhere in his mind a little spark started, it was some sixth sense he had that told him something was wrong. He turned slightly to see a teenager, looking about sixteen hiding in the shadows of a neighboring stall. He had greasy long brown hair, which clung to his small head. He was short, much to skinny, and was eyeing the necklace Will seemed to be buying like a hungry street cat would look upon a plump defenseless mouse.

The second Will had passed the money to the stall owner and she passed the necklace over to him Halt was on the move in the direction the thief was facing. Then right as Halt moved the dirty boy was on the move as well, running between Will and the stall all the while yanking the necklace out of Will's grip.

Halt scowled, not only at the thought of the dirty thief, but at the emotion he was feeling, to him this felt…personal. He mentally slapped himself, he knew he was trying to look over Will, he felt some special pull towards the boy, but also he knew he shouldn't think like that. He dropped the thought as a small body passed by him and an instant he realized Will was chasing after the thief.

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Will blinked, and suddenly it was gone! The necklace he had just gotten Alyss had been in his hands and now it was gone. He turned and saw a dirty kid, years older than himself, running through the crowd and he registered the fact the guy had just ran off with his present for Alyss.

"Hey," he shouted, then started after him, that necklace had cost a lot, and after seeing it, he didn't think he wanted to get Alyss anything else, anyway.

He sprinted after him; the crowd had parted at seeing the two boys running, and Will saw that he was slowing closing the distance between the two of them. The thief seemed to notice it too and ran harder, but Will matched his pace, actually he was a little above the thief's pace.

Then suddenly out of no where an arrow came flying past his face, making him jerk in the other direction, and caught the thief's ripped and filthy cloak, pinning it to a close by building wall.

Will turned and looked at a small figure who wore a green and gray mottled cloak, held a big longbow in one hand, and another arrow in the other.

He walked past Will in long strides, not even taking a look at him. Shifting nervously from one foot to another as he caught his breath, Will recognized the dangerous and mysterious ranger of Redmount.

They were out of the crowded market ground but the people at the farthest end of the market looked over in mild curiosity and fear at the strange ranger. They had all seen his deadly, accurately, shot arrow.

Suddenly the ranger turned briskly to Will and through what he recognized as the beautiful necklace he had chased the thief for. He barely caught it and he juggled it between his two hands a couple times before he got a grip on it.

"That's yours," the ranger said gruffly, his voice was low and not at all nice sounding.

Will was about to answer that it was but he decided that sense it was a phrased as a statement he didn't need to. He shifted nervously again, he wanted to get out of there, the older Ward children always told scary stories about Ranger's, he wasn't sure he believed them. After all they really liked to try and scare them, but the Ranger made him more nervous then anyone had ever before.

"Th-Thank you, Ranger, sir," He said quietly and nervously than ran off in the opposite direction.

He never saw the Ranger look up at him, and never saw the split second of softness in them as he watched the youth ran in the opposite direction. That is before he picked the dirty thief up by the collar and dragged him toward the castle, but a different direction than Will.

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**Well that was actually pretty fun to write! I hope to get the next chapter up soon. *crosses fingers* I hope I find the time! I need the time! Anyway I just need to catch some plot bunnies (THEY'RE SO FUZZY!) So review or don't, you know, do whatever you want...Well not WHATEVER you want, like I'm sure I wouldnt want you to jump off cliff, that wouldnt be good...hmmm...I mean review if you want or not...It doesnt really matter! :)**

**Anyway I have some inspiring words...well sort of...kinda...just really a story...but...yeah...**

**My friend asked me why I like writing so much, I told her that there were a lot of different reason, so she asked me the biggest reason, and I told her that it was because I get the power to make anyone do anything I want. I like the power. The sense of imagination you have to use to think of ideas. The chance for adventure or mystery or...Whatever you want! Then I realized I was making sense, and it sounded pretty dang good. Huh, Who knew?**


	4. Chapter 4 Will at Age Eleven

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't kill me! I'm late..._

_I have an explanation as to why this is so late! First I wrote it and tried to upload it and it wouldnt do it, and I didnt think it was fanfiction because the website let me load other things. So I put the file on a flash drive and decided to go down stairs where we have a different computer and download it down there, but then I went down there and it wasnt on the flash drive and so I went back upstairs and it wasnt on the computer anymore, so I had to rewrite it which I procrastinated...and it was a mess...BUT I finally got it up! ya! (dont kill me)_

_Anyway I'm not gonna talk anymore because you've already wait long enough!_

_Read and Relax! :)_

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The golden leaves crunched under foot as people pooled into the town at Redmount for the harvest day festival.

It was a fun day for everyone, the adults got the day off of work, they got to relax and enjoy the company of people they didn't already see every day. While the children, some having the day off if already helping at the family business, got to run around, being able to play games and have a good time with the company of others.

Everyone was invited, and the ward children were no exception. Most of the castle staff headed down to the festivities, the Baron himself as well, and they lead the children down to the town.

"I heard that they have a big harvest of strawberries this year, so they're going to be giving strawberry tarts out!" Alyss passed on to her fellow ward mates, who were all huddling together excitedly.

"Don't get your hopes up," Horace said bitterly, "Why would they be giving them out for free, that would be stupid."

Will looked at him before looking back at Jenny and Alyss who had disappointment written on their faces.

"Well if it's true and they had a big harvest even if they aren't giving them out for free, they would at least be cheap," He said in hopes of lifting there spirits.

"That would make sense," George agreed, sensing Will's meaning of telling them that.

Squealing excitedly they ran ahead of the boys, and Will gave Horace a bitter glance before heading ahead with them.

"He's just trying to get the girls to like him because he likes them. What a suck up," He said to George, but George looked away, not willing to even listen about Horace's bad mouth about Will. He didn't like the way Horace thought about his ward mates.

Closing his mouth and frowning Horace concentrated on staring daggers at the back a Will's head, with all the curly brown hair that had grown in the last couple years.

They were never fond of each other, and as the years rolled by they had grown farther and farther from being friends. Horace went out of his way to make an unpleasant comment about Will, and soon it seemed Will did too.

To busy staring at Will, Horace barely realized that the air filled with the scent of animals, not too pleasant of a scent, but soon was overlaid by the scent of foods, pastries, breads, meats.

They were soon surrounded by what seemed like an endless sea of people, they passed different stands holding all kind of different things, games, food, even some filled with merchants who were taking advantage of all the people in town for the day.

"Will, where do you think they might have the strawberry tarts," Jenny asked after taking a sweep of the area.

He shrugged, "I have no idea, maybe…"

Whatever he was saying was cut off as Horace raced up to them, "Look, look!"

Everyone turned their heads to where Horace pointed; Will gave him a irritated look before following suit.

Assuming that Horace was pointing to the sign that seemed to be right in the path of his finger he read it out loud.

"Harvest Festival Haunted Hay Ride," he said squinting to see in the dark, "no charge for children under thirteen."

"Let's go," Horace said excitedly, all the other exchanged looks. The girls looked fearfully at each other, and George stared at him, a look at that asked if he was crazy. Will looked at the ground; he didn't want to be the first to admit he's rather not go.

"What, are you all scared," Horace asked snidely, looking at Will, almost making it like a dare to him.

"Fine," Will said angrily, though he tried to hide it, "Come on you guys, it'll be fun."

Seeing Will agree, Alyss agreed, followed by Jenny then finally George, and they all headed off towards the forest where an arrow on the sign pointed to.

* * *

Halt muttered to himself as he glided through the group of people, unnoticed.

"This is ridiculous; I don't see any reason to have to come to the festival. I'm sure Baron Arald just thinks I'll have "fun." This isn't fun; fun is at home in the silence with a cup of coffee."

Sighing he looked over the crowd looking for, _any threat to this years fine festivities_, as the Baron had put it.

"What, are you scared?"

Halt turned his head to see, not ten feet away, young Will and his ward mates seemingly argue over something.

"Fine," He watched Will say, "Come on you guys, it'll be fun,"

"What could they be up too," Halt thought, and as he watched them slowly making their way through the crowd. Taking a glance back at the crowds he concluded there wasn't anything to do there anyway, and followed the kids to their destination.

* * *

Horace had led them into the darkness of the woods, lit only by a couple of torches here and there.

They hadn't even gotten on the ride and Will was already stiff with fear, and he was trying not to look back. He had the strange sensation that someone was watching them, but he reasoned he was just scared.

As the ward children followed the rocky path he felt everyone stiffen around him, and he relaxed a bit, if they were scared too it was ok.

After everyone almost tripping on the multiple rocks jutting from the path, they saw a man standing by a rickety, make-shift gate.

"Hey kids, have you come to ride?" He asked, and received an answer of enthusiastic nods, they were now excited for a little scare. "Alright then, hop on up there."

He motioned to a medium sized wagon that was filled to the brim with hay, and strapped to a large jet black horse.

Letting Jenny and Alyss go first the three boys quickly hopped up after, sitting there in the thickest of the hay were two older boys, looking about fifteen.

Mumbling a quick hello the five ward children parked themselves in a thick bundle of hay and watched as the man that had welcomed them close the gate and walk over to the horse.

Hopping on he gave the reigns a little pressure and the horse started off in a walking speed. The only thing lighting the darkness was a small torch that the man had set in a metal holder on the side of the rider's seat.

The crisp night air began to swirl around them, and the only sound that could be heard was squeaking and crashing as the wheels rolled and feel in the holes of the path.

Soon the trees began to rustle and something popped out, and before Will could identify it, it merged back into the blackness of the trees.

Shifting closer together the kids looked around waiting for what would show up next. Suddenly a man on a horse burst out of the trees behind them and followed, and that wasn't the creepy part.

The man didn't seem to have a head, and when Jenny realized this she let out a startled scream, and with that they heard the figure laugh. A dark, menacing laugh, and with that divulged back into the trees.

The two older boys laughed at the younger girls fright and Will watched them. One was tall, much taller than any of them he had a light brown colored hair, almost mouse colored and chiseled facial features, along with piercing blue eyes.

The other had black eyes that caught Will's own eyes, and raven black hair, much like the horses coat. They both sported wicked grins, and dark clothes that he couldn't make out.

After watching them Will missed whatever had just come out of the trees, but it must have been scary because all the others looked scared. He was surprised none of them screamed, probably to make it so the older guys didn't laugh.

Watching out again he scanned the surroundings not seeing anyone, when suddenly he felt someone grab the back of his collar.

"What are you doing," he screamed as he tried to turn around to see who exactly was doing it.

Before he mustered up the strength to break the iron grip another figure road out of the trees, he held what looked like a bloody sword and looked like he was covered in blood.

Holding back a scream Will tried to break free but he was held almost over the edge of the cart as the man with the sword came closer.

"Hey, what are you doing, let Will go," Jenny and Alyss called from where they sat.

"What makes you think you can do that," Will heard George call.

Squirming as the scary, bloody man came closer, Will tried to look away, but it there wasn't any point, he couldn't.

Though he could see out of the corner of his eye Horace struggling against the black haired boy as he held him back.

Seeing Horace trying to help him he struggled more, and finally the boy let go and flung backwards.

Startled to see why he had suddenly done that he noticed that deep in the bark of the tree an arrow was buried.

* * *

Halt grunted in satisfaction as the arrow flew right passed the kids head and into the tree he had chosen. He held back a smile as Will looked around him for the answer to what had happened, and saw his gaze land on the arrow.

Letting his small smile show through to himself he backed off into the trees.

"Maybe this is a little better than a cup of coffee at home." He whispered to himself as he walked back to him little cabin in the woods.

* * *

_Yes, I know the beginning was kinda like the last chapter, but the ending wasnt, right? I thought it was cute to write. _

_I dont have much to say today, which is werid...*looks around wonder what kind of world I'm in now*_

_Anyway, I hope you liked it, and if you didnt, well I'm glad you have an opinion but I don't really care._


	5. Author's Note sorry!

**Sorry to disappoint you if you thought this was a new chapter! I always hate it when I see a new alert in my email only find out it's an author's note, and here I am doing it. **

**Well I wanted an opinion on something and it seemed like a good idea to ask you people. As you know, I've went from age to age skipping a couple years as I go. I wanted to know if you think it sounds like a good plan if I, go back and fill in the gaps. Or do you think I should just keep going and not go back to his younger ages? **

**I already have the next two chapters planned, so it wouldn't be until after then. (If you are wondering I AM going to be doing the one moment where Halt sees Will stealing those pies from Master Chubb's kitchen.) **

**I was also thinking if you thought I shouldn't do that, I have been thinking of some ideas I could write about during Will's apprenticeship, even though I would have to change the summary for this story. **

**Anyway, tell me what you think (if you want of course) and I promise I will have the next chapter up as soon as I can! I just have to finish a new chapter for this other story I have in a different book series...Now all I have to do is find the notebook where I wrote the chapter….hmmm….well, anyway, have a fantastic day!**

**À bientôt! (sorry I'm in French, it means see you soon!)**


	6. Chapter 5 Will at Age Thirteen

**_So here is my next chapter! A lot faster than my last chapter, right? So, right now here is what I am planning if you are curious. I need to fit a couple more things where he is in the Ward, which I have already planned out. I will then be going into his apprentice years. I have a couple ideas for them, I don't know how many I am going to be having, but I will be going into his apprentice years. During that I may go back and do a couple when he's younger if I get a good idea._**

**_Yeah, well that's all I have to say about that. Will's 13 right now. They're 15 for choosing day if I recall right, So I have an idea for 14 and an idea for something I want to do when he is 15. Alrighty, I will stop typing now and let you read! :)_**

**_Oh and almost forgot DISCLAIMER: I don't own it, but we can all wish, right?_**

**_Read and Relax_**

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"I don't want this to happen again," Baron Arald's voice boomed through his small office, "You too are both growing up in this Ward and you both are here for a similar reason, that should be a means of friendship."

Will's frown deepened, but he nodded his head in a defeated agreement, all while Horace grimaced.

They had been caught in a fight, it had started out with Horace calling him a little brat, something that Will found overly offensive, because the fact was, he was little. He was about a head height under Horace. Which Will pointed out, but couldn't help but add that it was a shame because Horace's head was huge.

At that point Horace had become angry and dived at him. The smaller boy had just barely managed to hop out of the way of the larger one. Horace then proceeded to chase him through the castle grounds, although he never did get the chance to hit him, Will reflected.

The thought burned in Will's mind. He had been able to evade Horace's first shot, and knowing better than to hang around and see what happened he had hurried out of the room, but Horace had come after him.

Being smaller was better for Will in a situation like that, he was able to easy dodged around obstacles, while Horace seemed to skid straight into them, try to recover quickly, and shoot back after him. Will had dodged under tables, around other people in the castle, and jumped over chairs, but unfortunately Will had misjudged the height of a chair and his foot had caught the bottom, leaving him to tumble onto the ground.

Horace found it the perfect time to pin him down, sitting on top of the boy victorious, but luckily for Will the Baron had heard about the ruckus and came down to see what was going on, which had landed to boys where they were now.

"-and I don't know why the two of you can't seem to get along, this is the third time this month." Will nodded again, even though he hadn't heard the beginning of what the Baron had been saying.  
"Now shake hands and be on your way, and remember, no fighting."

Both of the boys knew better than to argue with Baron Arald, he was the one giving them shelter, food, and all the other things that they didn't have on their own. So, they faced each other and shook hands, while muttering false apologies.

Arald shook his head to himself and swished his hand in a gesture that they could leave, happy that they were not getting further punishment they flew out of the room and down the hallway.  
"When are those two going to learn to get along," he muttered to himself, "Halt, would you mind terribly if I asked you to go and make sure they don't start fighting right away again?"

A small, blurry figure stepped out of the shadows of the left corner of the room. Halt pushed the cowl of his cloak onto his shoulders to reveal his rugged features.

"Of course," His simple reply echoed through the rafters of the room. With a bow to the Baron he quietly exited the room, pulling the cowl back up onto his head, hiding his face in the shadows.  
He quickly but quietly walked down the empty hallways, following the loud and clumsy footsteps of the children. It was easy to be able to tell the difference between the two sets of footsteps, the first pair, the one called Horace, were louder, as he was bigger and heavier, and they seemed to drag against the ground. While Will's steps were quieter, and more graceful, he picked his feet off of the ground, so that he couldn't hear them drag like Horace's did.

He caught sight of the two boys as he glanced around the corner, Will seemed to be trying to ignore Horace, he kept his gaze forward, but Halt noticed his fist's were clenched. Horace seemed to be planning, he kept shooting glares over at Will. Getting close enough the hear them Halt listened as they muttered to each other.

"This is all your fault pipsqueak," Horace muttered angrily.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you can throw insults but not take them," Will countered without looking at his large ward mate.

"Shut up," Horace said after a moment, he couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Just be lucky that Baron Arald forgave us."

"Us? You mean you! I told you this was your fault!"

"Yeah, it would be my fault if I was huge, bulky, and had a huge head, but that doesn't describe me, does it?"

With that Horace lunged, but Will danced out of the way and without looking back he bolted out of the room.

"That's right," Horace called out, "Run, because that's all you can do!"

Will didn't stop until he was outside, he paused for a moment then scrambled up a tree in the courtyard. He had discovered what a nice place it was a couple days ago, he had easy found a nice crook in the top branches of the tree to sit.

The top of the tree was where the thinning branches were, the swayed in the wind, and someone like Horace would never be able to make it to the top, but Will was different. He was smaller and much lighter, and was able to sit comfortable, were the wind breezed through his hair and hit his face in a soothing gust, he was also safe from Horace here.

He sighed, Horace had become such a pain, he threw insults at him, but when Will said anything back, he was on him, trying to hit him.

Meanwhile, Halt had watched the boys little confrontation, he grimaced as Horace laughed as the smaller boy fled, and Halt considered telling the Baron, or better yet taking care of it himself.  
Then he decided better of it, nothing had actually happened, and if he took care of it, well, he would be in some amount of trouble. He stayed silent as Horace passed right in front of him, and he couldn't help but walk straight out of the shadows, he watched as Horace's face turned from surprise to horror as he saw the dark figure.

The dim lighting in the hallway made it unclear of who or what just came out of the shadows, and frightened Horace backed away slowly and ran down the hallways. He wasn't about the find out, he had some slight idea that it had been a Ranger, but that didn't help. He had heard plenty of stories about Ranger's, none of them good.

Halt, with a small smirk on his face as he watched the boy run down the hallway, hesitated a few minutes before stepping out into the summer night.

The star's in the sky shown brightly and the almost full moon seemed to light the way in the sea of blackness. There was a slight breeze that ruffled his cloak, but it was cooling in the mugging night.  
Halt looked around for a sign of the boy, and he spotted some obvious foot prints in the mud around the base of an massive oak tree. Looking up, with his keen sight, he noticed the small figure that had draped itself into the upper branches on the tree.

He watched until the moon was high up into the middle of the sky until finally Will expertly made his way down from the tree and cautiously looked around before making his way to the door. Never once did he noticed the Ranger that had been watching him, and watching out for him.

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**_There you have it! I know I kind of made Horace a little chicken there when he saw Halt, I was thinking that maybe it was a little out there, because he's 13, but I figured if he thought it was a Ranger. I personally liked this chapter because in this one Halt is really just watching Will from afar, he Will never even knows he's there, like all my other chapter's where he knows someone's there or someone did something. I just like that fact._**

**_I really must thank everyone for reading, and espeically for you guys who reviewed. I know I never really say anything about asking you guys to rreview, but it really does matter, and I love it when I get a good review! So thanks a ton!_**

**_So I hope everyone had a great Christmas or any other Holiday that you guys celebrate. I'm really happy, my parents got me a laptop, which makes typing so much easier. I also hope you had a fun/happy New Year. I know I did! I headed over to my cousins who don't live that far from me, spending a couple days there is crazy, espeically with their dog. I love him, but he loves to try and chew on peoples hands. He's a german shepard and Collie mix. He hides things everywhere._**

**_I was just sitting there on my cousin's chair and he comes along and starts sticking his head in the crack between the cushion and the side of the chair and all of a sudden he brings his head out and he was holding a pig ear...We don't know how long it was there, but it was really werid._**

**_Oh great, I've been going on and on again, sorry. Well if you actually read this entire thing, Congrates!_**

**_Hope to update soon!_**


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